Novak Djokovic sets up French Open semifinal with Jannik Sinner after win over Alexander Zverev
ROLAND GARROS, PARIS — Novak Djokovic is through to the French Open semifinals, after outclassing Alexander Zverev in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win Wednesday night.
Djokovic, 38, is a decade older than Zverev, but he made his opponent look like he was stuck in the past with a performance full of variety and inventive angles that contrasted sharply with the German's one-dimensional baseline play. By the end, Djokovic had dismantled the No. 3 seed, with a mixture of effective drop shots and clinical volleys. Zverev had no answer: when he attempted a drop shot of his own at the end of the third set, it landed halfway up the net.
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When the German had a foothold to get back in the match after going up a break point in the fourth set, he tried to take his older opponent's legs away with a 41-shot rally. Djokovic won it with a forehand pass, bringing Court Philippe-Chatrier to its feet. A few games later, he was a step closer to winning a 25th Grand Slam title.
As lost and leaden-footed as Zverev looked at times, he is still the third-highest ranked player in the world. For Djokovic to beat him in this manner underlines what a masterclass he produced on Chatrier. After dropping the first set, Djokovic became more and more comfortable and started exploring every inch of this cavernous court.
Because of Rafael Nadal's ludicrous dominance at Roland Garros, it's easy to forget that Djokovic is a three-time champion and one of the finest clay-courters in the history of the sport. Mats Wilander, a fellow three-time French Open champion, told The Athletic last year that he would put Djokovic joint-second with Björn Borg, who won half a dozen Roland Garros titles, on a ranked all-time list of male clay-court masters.
Based on all that, Djokovic, who has not lost to someone not named Nadal at Roland Garros for six years, would theoretically be in good nick to win a fourth title on Sunday. The problem is that he faces the world No. 1 Jannik Sinner next, and then if he gets past him, it'll likely be the world No. 2 and reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz in the final. Djokovic beat Alcaraz on Chatrier in the 2024 Olympic final, but he's lost his last three meetings against Sinner, and is looking to become the first man ever to beat the top three seeds at a slam.
But Djokovic is a master of clay. No player gets to 16 straight quarterfinals without a supreme grasp of the intricacies of clay-court tennis. Zverev, with more time to hit his groundstrokes, strikes a beautiful ball on clay and was within a set of winning the title last year. But to beat someone as good as Djokovic, a player needs to either play with variety, or be willing and able to blast him off the court, like Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem both did in the past. Those two, Marco Cecchinato and Nadal are the only players to beat him at Roland Garros since Roger Federer in 2011.
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Zverev was holding his own until he gave up a break early in the second set. Djokovic served it out from there, and fittingly secured the set with a feathered backhand drop shot. He hit 35 in total, to Zverev's 12, and even if they weren't perfect they served the purpose of getting his opponent into the net and exposing his questionable forecourt game. Djokovic, by contrast, was happy to follow his drop shots in, trusting the hand skills that make him one of the tour's best volleyers.
The pattern continued into the third set, and Djokovic broke his opponent's resistance by breaking Zverev's serve three times in a row. It took Djokovic from level to up a set and a break, within touching distance of a 13th semifinal in Paris. Zverev forced that break point down 3-2 in the fourth, but did not fully commit to two overheads that might have ended the point.
Next up for Djokovic it's the imperious Sinner, who has lost once since early October and has won 18 Grand Slam matches in a row. Djokovic has lost their last two meetings, without even forcing a break point.
Still, he looks in the mood to make history.
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